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someone had
done a replicating spell on Jerry to produce a younger offspring with nearly
identical features. Well, Ben’s blue eyes were brighter and he wore his hair
more conservatively. They were both tall and built like the swimmers they were,
but Jerry had about an inch and ten pounds on his “little” brother. Even with
that taken into account, Ben was more than just a suitable substitution for his
brother, at least in her book. In some ways he was better. Where Jerry had a
bit of a dark streak threaded through his personality, Ben was naturally sunny.
She needed a little sunshine in her life. All flowers need sun.
    She scanned the walls around her in search of a sign
pointing toward a bathroom. She found it, and backtracked toward the entrance,
catching sight of the Bavarian cuckoo clock over the bank of benches.
    “Shit. Six more hours here. What the hell am I going to do
for six hours? Maybe I’ll go sit on the bus,” she said to her feet.
    A pale pair of hands grabbed her wrists.
    Daisy stopped, squeaks from her cheap canvas sneakers
providing accompaniment to the action, and lifted her baseball cap’s brim to
find Trinity wearing her patented one-eyebrow query.
    “Where are ya going, Daisy?”
    Jerry and Ben were a few yards away, heads bent over an
exhibit detailing the use of barley and hops in beer. Ben had his arms folded
over his chest in a manner that made the muscles of his biceps stand out in
great relief. Daisy wanted to walk over and wrap her fingers around one. She’d
probably giggle at it and say “Nice” because she was that kind of lame.
    She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned. “Uh…bathroom. The
bathroom. I need to…” She cleared her throat. “Did the tour, you know.”
    “Right. We’re about to go through. You want to hang? We’ll
understand if you don’t want to do it again, but I don’t really want you
walking around by yourself, either.”
    Daisy shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts and
chuckled. “You may be my boss, but I think I’ve got a few months or a year on
you, Trinity.” She stared at her feet some more. “I can take care of myself.”
God, for that matter, Jerry was her boss, too. She didn’t really want two of
her supervisors babying her all afternoon. Especially not after her
eavesdropping incident on the bus. Awkward.
    She looked up again, only to find Ben watching them.
    His eyes widened as if he were surprised to see her there.
    “Shit.”
    Trinity ignored her obvious distress. “Sure you can. This
kind of place is more fun in groups. Come on! Make memories with us.” Trinity’s
lips quivered as she suppressed a laugh.
    Daisy couldn’t tell if it was at her expense or not, but
all the same, she’d pass. “I don’t want to inconvenience you. You don’t really
have to lug me around. I…”
    “Shush. Go pee.” Trinity pointed to the restroom entrance.
    Bossy little thing .
    “Go.”
    Daisy put her hands up and skulked away. “All right.” This will end badly.
    “Change of plans!” Trinity said, looping her arm around
Daisy’s waist as she exited the bathroom. Trinity walked her toward a bench
where the guys were sitting.
    They both stood as they approached, and Ben’s grin made
Daisy study her shoelaces again. Dammit,
that face.
    Trinity continued. “We’re going to hit the attractions
first, then try to get the boys sloshed on the way out. That way they can sleep
it off on the way back to Chowan, but I doubt there’s enough beer in this
entire brewery to get the job done.”
    “Must be nice…” Daisy hiccupped. “…to have such a high
alcohol tolerance.”
    “Yeah, I’d say so. One Jerry could drink three of me under
a table.”
    “Must be nice…” Daisy hiccupped again. “…to have such high
metabolism. Probably never gains a pound.”
    “Yeah, right? In the year I’ve lived with Jerry, that guy
has never gained weight unless he wanted to. Hate him.”
    “Whatever. You’re a twig.”
    They started up the